Presentation for use with the textbook, Algorithm Design and

Applications, by M. T. Goodrich and R. Tamassia, Wiley, 2015

Depth-First Search
A

B D E

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 1

 Subgraphs
q  A subgraph S of a graph
G is a graph such that
n  The vertices of S are a
subset of the vertices of G
n  The edges of S are a Subgraph
subset of the edges of G
q  A spanning subgraph of G
is a subgraph that
contains all the vertices
of G

Spanning subgraph

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 2

 Application: Web Crawlers
q  A fundamental kind of algorithmic operation that we
might wish to perform on a graph is traversing the
edges and the vertices of that graph.
q  A traversal is a systematic procedure for exploring a
graph by examining all of its vertices and edges.
q  For example, a web crawler, which is the data
collecting part of a search engine, must explore a
graph of hypertext documents by examining its
vertices, which are the documents, and its edges,
which are the hyperlinks between documents.
q  A traversal is efficient if it visits all the vertices and
edges in linear time.
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 3
 Connectivity
q  A graph is
connected if there is
a path between
every pair of Connected graph
vertices
q  A connected
component of a
graph G is a
maximal connected
subgraph of G Non connected graph with two
connected components

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 4

 Trees and Forests
q  A (free) tree is an
undirected graph T such
that
n  T is connected
n  T has no cycles
Tree
This definition of tree is
different from the one of
a rooted tree
q  A forest is an undirected
graph without cycles
q  The connected
components of a forest
are trees Forest

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 5

 Spanning Trees and Forests
q  A spanning tree of a
connected graph is a
spanning subgraph that is
a tree
q  A spanning tree is not
unique unless the graph is
a tree Graph
q  Spanning trees have
applications to the design
of communication
networks
q  A spanning forest of a
graph is a spanning
subgraph that is a forest
Spanning tree
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 6
 Depth-First Search
q  Depth-first search (DFS)
is a general technique
for traversing a graph
q  A DFS traversal of a
graph G
n  Visits all the vertices and
edges of G
n  Determines whether G is
connected
n  Computes the connected
components of G
n  Computes a spanning
forest of G
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search
q  DFS on a graph with n
vertices and m edges
takes O(n + m ) time
q  DFS can be further
extended to solve other
graph problems
n  Find and report a path
between two given
vertices
n  Find a cycle in the graph
q  Depth-first search is to
graphs what Euler tour
is to binary trees
7
 DFS Algorithm from a Vertex

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 8

 Example
A
A unexplored vertex
A visited vertex
B D E
unexplored edge
discovery edge C
back edge

A A

B D E B D E

C C

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 9

 Example (cont.)
A A

B D E B D E

C C

A A

B D E B D E

C C

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 10

 DFS and Maze Traversal
q  The DFS algorithm is
similar to a classic
strategy for exploring
a maze
n  We mark each
intersection, corner
and dead end (vertex)
visited
n  We mark each corridor
(edge ) traversed
n  We keep track of the
path back to the
entrance (start vertex)
by means of a rope
(recursion stack)
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 11
 Properties of DFS
Property 1
DFS(G, v) visits all the
vertices and edges in
the connected A
component of v
Property 2 B D E
The discovery edges
labeled by DFS(G, v)
form a spanning tree of C
the connected
component of v

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 12

 The General DFS Algorithm
q  Perform a DFS from each unexplored
vertex:

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 13

 Analysis of DFS
q  Setting/getting a vertex/edge label takes O(1) time
q  Each vertex is labeled twice
n  once as UNEXPLORED
n  once as VISITED
q  Each edge is labeled twice
n  once as UNEXPLORED
n  once as DISCOVERY or BACK
q  Method incidentEdges is called once for each vertex
q  DFS runs in O(n + m) time provided the graph is
represented by the adjacency list structure
n  Recall that Σv deg(v) = 2m

© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 14

 Path Finding (not in book)
q  We can specialize the DFS
algorithm to find a path Algorithm pathDFS(G, v, z)
between two given setLabel(v, VISITED)
vertices u and z using the S.push(v)
template method pattern if v = z
return S.elements()
q  We call DFS(G, u) with u for all e ∈ G.incidentEdges(v)
as the start vertex if getLabel(e) = UNEXPLORED
q  We use a stack S to keep w ← opposite(v,e)
track of the path between if getLabel(w) = UNEXPLORED
the start vertex and the setLabel(e, DISCOVERY)
current vertex S.push(e)
q  As soon as destination pathDFS(G, w, z)
vertex z is encountered, S.pop(e)
we return the path as the else
contents of the stack setLabel(e, BACK)
S.pop(v)
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 15
 Cycle Finding (not in book)
Algorithm cycleDFS(G, v, z)
q  We can specialize the setLabel(v, VISITED)
DFS algorithm to find a S.push(v)
simple cycle using the for all e ∈ G.incidentEdges(v)
if getLabel(e) = UNEXPLORED
template method pattern
w ← opposite(v,e)
q  We use a stack S to S.push(e)
keep track of the path if getLabel(w) = UNEXPLORED
setLabel(e, DISCOVERY)
between the start vertex
pathDFS(G, w, z)
and the current vertex S.pop(e)
q  As soon as a back edge else
T ← new empty stack
(v, w) is encountered, repeat
we return the cycle as o ← S.pop()
the portion of the stack T.push(o)
until o = w
from the top to vertex w return T.elements()
S.pop(v)
© 2015 Goodrich and Tamassia Depth-First Search 16